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We are committed to making a positive difference through our interventions to deliver outstanding results. Our start point is always the ‘client needs’ and if we feel that we could genuinely add value to what our client is doing, then we will be pleased to prepare a proposal. We greater satisfaction in achieving success through honest, professional and timely results coupled with strict adherence to the view that for our clients achieve their goal(s), we will have achieved our goal.

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Tips & Tricks - Boosting your fundraising efforts

Fundraising forms the most important activity
of any Organization to sustain and continue their efforts towards development.
Practitioners consider fundraising or resource mobilization as the driving
force of an organization as its decline spells doom and its increase guarantees
longevity of the organization and the development agenda at large.
However, this is much easier said in theory and a daunting task in
practice, but with some mentoring, coaching and sustained practice one can
boost up your fundraising efforts leading to securing actual resources to
implement projects and programs.

While there are no blue print applicable
approaches as a result of the dynamics of the development sector, this write up
sees to offer some strategic tips and guidance on what has worked and what can
potentially work for organizations depending on application and
practice. The following are some of the to-dos that have worked for me while
working with International Organizations, National Organizations and Community
Based Organizations in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Having an effective strategy in place: Strategic planning is the key
and that’s why do not wait till your project comes to an end. Start planning at
least a year in advance, so that you have enough time to submit application to
various donors. As different donors have a funding cycle, you will not want to
miss any opportunity and therefore keep enough time. You can engage team
members in the fundraising exercise and allocate responsibilities for taking up
different roles for example; someone can conduct donor research and mapping,
while the other can develop proposals and concepts. This approach almost
guarantees that you don’t miss any deadline and all correspondence with the
donor is done on a timely and proficient manner allowing for build-up
engagement for improvement or focus shift.

Mapping out and approaching a host of
donors: There is a term that was coined and has taken root within the
development spheres and it’s called “donor fatigue”. Most organizations and
their fundraising staff are stuck with the traditional donors leading to this
term – donor fatigue. It is a high times that Organizations became innovative
in their programs and approaches to avert the consequences of this term. There
are several new donor mechanisms in place such as virtual funding platforms,
crowd funding, corporate social responsibility, individuals etc. Keep an eye on
such funding windows as there is a huge potential to get funds from them. This
will surely help in engaging with multiple donors thereby enhancing your
chances of securing funding.

Documentation – blogs and MSC stories: Donors like to know how you have
utilized their money, and not only that, they love it when the people whose
lives have been changed are in a position to narrate the stories and proactively
predict the possible future based on their new statues as opposed to the ancient
100 page reports that no one really wants to read from the onset. Sharing
information through stories and pictures entices donors to not only continue
funding your program but also consider visiting the program areas often – such
visits also allow you as an organization to identify other dynamic areas of
funding to better impact the lives of the people. Through rights based or
result focused documentation, you can let the donors know that their money is
being used to improve lives and with their continued support can bring about a
positive change in the society.

Developingfocused proposals based on a firm
argument (s): The donor does not
know of your intended project beforehand unless there have been prior visits
but even through, your proposal needs to be able to be picture perfect for the
donor so that they can relate to it despite not being at the project site.Proposal
formulationis one of the most important steps towards ensuring
donor engagement and subsequently receiving resources from donors. Your proposal
should provide information on what you intend to do, what are the objectives,
key activities, how will it help the cause, how much money you need etc.

You should be considerate to the fact that yours is not the only
organization soliciting for funds and by virtue of not being physically present
to argue out your case as cited on the proposal; your proposal has to be overly
focused and convincing to warrant a call from the donor. This is because, at
any given time there are several organizations applying for funding, you need
to develop a strong case to avail the fund. Writing a proposal forms the most
important part of the fundraising plan, as it is the proposal that will decide
if you will get funded or not.

In my earlier days in development work, I made a host of
mistakes which may have caused the fundraising efforts I engaged in to fail to
get recognized or even funded. As such, here are some points to be kept in mind
while drafting your proposal to be increasing your chances of being funded;

§Avoid making spelling and grammatical
mistakes, so share the proposal with your colleagues and get it checked
thoroughly before submitting;

§No one wants a research or thesis
paper as a proposal. As such, do not make the proposal too academic by using
too much facts and figures. Use facts at only relevant places e.g. describing
the issue/problem and how you intend to solve it;

§Project a human pitch/face to your
proposal, which simply means the proposal should show that your care about the
issue NOT the money. However do not make it overly emotional.

§In the case of a CFPs – Call For
Proposals, follow the guidelines, format and instructions properly as provided
by the donor;

§Clearly mention about the
sustainability aspect of the project and your exit strategy from the project site.
No donor wants to fund your Organization for years on end – this is partly what
leads to “donor fatigue”; and

§At first submission, just highlight a
budget reflecting how you will be utilizing the funds. On the second level of
engagement, consider having a detailed budget.

Last but not least, always recognized your donors in your
various engagement platforms – be it community meetings, networks, reports,
newsletters and social media platforms. This aspect motivates them to continue
their support. These tips will surely boost up your performance and will help
you engage with many donors consistently.

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